National Hammock Day on Thursday, July 22, 2027, honors a bed the Taíno people were already sleeping in when Columbus arrived in 1492. Grab a hammock, find some shade and give it a try.
Marking the Day
July 22 is the date, and nobody has to approve your nap.
From Taíno Hamacas to Navy Decks
Nobody knows who started the day. The bed itself came from the Taíno of the Caribbean.
Their woven beds kept sleepers off wet ground and away from snakes and forest animals. The National Endowment for the Arts calls the hammock the first New World craft tradition Europeans recognized and accepted.
Columbus noted the beds in his journal on October 17, 1492: “Their beds and covers are like nets made of cotton.” He wrote down the word hamaca, the root of “hammock,” Hektoen International reports. In the Taíno-Arawakan language, hamaka meant a stretch of cloth.
The first hammocks were probably made of tree bark, according to Caribbean Beat, a magazine about the region. Spanish writer Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés described them in 1535.
Life at sea
Sailors loved them. English crews took them up in the 16th century, since they slept better at sea than in bunks. Still, roughly a century passed before hammocks caught on widely aboard ships.
Britain’s Royal Navy made “Brazilian beds” official in 1597. Space was tight. Each sailor got 14 to 16 inches of width, and petty officers got 28.
On Royal Navy ships, hanging beds of easy-to-clean sailcloth kept crews off filthy decks, which cut down on disease. They swayed with the ship, easing seasickness. Their cocoon shape also made falling out nearly impossible.
Stowed hammocks, rolled around bedding, sat in nets along the rails and doubled as safety barriers. In an emergency, a well-packed one could even float. The Royal Navy kept using them into the 1950s, though bunks slowly took over during the 20th century.
A weaver’s legacy
José “Compay Ché” González was born in 1918 into a weaving family in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. He started at age seven. He and his father-in-law became the first modern weavers there to make hammocks from cotton, in the late 1940s.
Fellow weavers named him “El Hamaquero Mayor,” the great hammock weaver. He wove for 75 years and once said, “I will never stop weaving hammocks.” In 2000, he became a National Heritage Fellow.
Why a Hanging Bed Still Works
Its design has served people for more than five centuries of written records. It’s light and quick to set up, and Caribbean Beat notes it once doubled as a chair, a sack or even a fishing net. Hammocks are still woven by hand in the Puerto Rican towns of San Sebastián and Las Piedras.
National Hammock Day, the Leave No Trace Way
Outdoors, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics suggests these steps:
- Go wide: use tree straps at least 1 inch wide to protect bark.
- Pick sturdy trees: choose living trunks at least 6 inches across.
- Look up first: check for dead branches overhead before you settle in.
- Stay low: hang it less than 5 feet off the ground.
- Wrap once: loop each strap around the trunk a single time.
- Keep your distance from water: set up at least 200 feet from lakes and streams.
- Take it down: pack up the hammock whenever you leave camp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the U.S. Navy issue hammocks?
Yes. Its 1818 regulations gave each new sailor a hammock six feet long and three feet wide, plus a mattress and two blankets.
What were Puerto Rican hammocks made from?
Maguey fiber, known as cabuya. Cotton became the favorite later because it was more convenient.
Are hammocks allowed everywhere?
Not always. Check local rules with land managers before you hang one.